Plate link chain having inner and outer plate members

ABSTRACT

A plate link chain in the form of a conveyor chain comprising at least two chain strands that are disposed parallel to one another and are comprised of a sequence of inner plate members and outer plate members, wherein the inner plate members are provided with openings for receiving at least one sleeve for connecting the inner plate members of oppositely disposed chain strands, wherein the outer plate members are provided with openings aligned with the openings of the inner plate members to receive a link pin that extends through the sleeve and is fixed on the outer plate members, and wherein the inner plate members are comprised of at least two individual plates, one of which, of at least the inner plate members of one chain strand, is provided with angle brackets for the mounting of further chain components.

This specification for the instant application should be granted thepriority date of Feb. 11, 2003, the filing date of the correspondingGerman Patent application 203 02 130.4 as well as the priority date of17 Dec. 2003, the filing date of the corresponding International patentapplication PCT/EP2003/014412.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a plate link chain in the form of a conveyorchain, especially for platform or apron conveyors, bucket conveyors, orsimilar conveying means, comprised of at least two chain strands thatare disposed parallel to one another and are comprised of a sequence ofinner plate members and outer plate members, whereby the inner platemembers are provided with openings for receiving at least one sleeve forconnecting the inner plate members of the oppositely disposed chainstrands, and the outer plate members are provided with openings that arelined with the openings of the inner plate members in order to receive alink pin that extends through the sleeve and is fixed on the outer platemembers, and at least the inner plate members and/or the outer platemembers that form one chain strand are provided with angle brackets forthe mounting of further components of the conveying means.

A plate link chain having the aforementioned features is described inDIN Standard 8167 as well as in DIN Standard 8175. Such plate linkchains have the problem that the maximum tensile load of the chain thatcan be taken up is determined by the weakest chain element, i.e. theinner plate member, the outer plate member, the sleeve or the link pin.In this connection, experience has shown that with the state of the artplate link chains, the inner plate member having the bore for receivingthe chain sleeve, which bore weakens the cross-sectional area of theinner plate member, represents the weak point of a state of the artplate link chain. To the extent within the scope of the knownmanufacturing processes the plates are manufactured from rolled metalplate by stamping, shearing or laser cutting, out of economical reasonsthese manufacturing processes permit only a specific plate thickness, asa result of which the maximum permissible tensile load of the plate linkchain is also limited. If greater tensile loads of the chain arenecessary, disproportionately process-intensive, and hence expensive,forged chains are used.

To the extent that with the plate link chain described in GB 193 547components such as angle brackets that are to be attached are placedupon additionally arranged bolts, the problem presented with regard tothe configuration of the inner plate members that carry the sleeves isnot eliminated thereby.

Known from GB 2 135 018 A, U.S. Pat. No. 1,694,746 and JP60-191903 areroller chains with which a shaft that carries the respective roller islikewise carried in the inner plate members and outer plate members ofthe chain, which to this extent are appropriately embodied the same;there thus does not result a differing loading of the inner of themembers and outer plate members.

It is therefore an object of the invention, with a plate link chainhaving the aforementioned features, to provide a uniform loading of allelements of the chain, and possibly to increase the permissible tensileload of the chain.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The basic concept of the invention is that the inner plate members ofthe plate link chain are comprised of at least two individual plates, ofwhich one individual plate is provided with the angle bracket.

The invention has the advantage that the thickness of the material ofthe individual plates can be limited to a value that enables aneconomical manufacture without thereby limiting the permissible tensileload of the chain; rather, the tensile load of the chain can beincreased while using two or more, in other words three or four or anumber of individual plates that is advantageous in the technical designof the plate link chain for the respective formation of an inner platemember. Since only one individual plate is connected with the anglebracket, the manufacture of this individual plate is also facilitated,since the loading of the plate link chain by the further components ofthe conveying means mounted on the angle brackets is less than thetensile loading that exists in the chain. Thus, the inventivelyconfigured chain respectively has the best material utilizationcoefficients.

Pursuant to one embodiment of the invention, the angle bracket ismonolithically formed with the individual plate that carries it, wherebythe angle bracket is produced directly by bending, pressing, or someother appropriate manufacturing process. This embodiment has the specialadvantage that it is no longer necessary to deform the entire thicknessof the corresponding plate of the chain, but rather that the appropriateforming process is limited to the individual plate that carries theangle bracket and has a limited material thickness.

Pursuant to another embodiment of the invention, the inner plate membersand outer plate members that form a chain strand are respectively formedwith an overall thickness that is formed by a different number ofindividual plates. The invention thus permits, in an advantageousmanner, the inner plate members of a chain strand to have a greatermaterial thickness by using a greater number of individual platesrelative to the outer plate members of the same chain strand; in thisconnection, the invention does not preclude the outer plate members of achain strand, which alternate with the inner plate members that arecomposed of a plurality of individual plates, from being comprised of asingle individual plate.

If, pursuant to one embodiment of the invention, the individual platesthat are used for the construction of the inner plate members have adifferent material thickness, there results thereby a greater freedomwith regard to the dimensioning of the material thickness of the innerplate members or the outer plate members. Thus, thinner individualplates that alternate with thicker individual plates can be combined toform an outer plate member or an inner plate member.

Pursuant to another embodiment of the invention, the individual platesare interconnected to form an inner plate member or an outer platemember, whereby the individual plates can be interconnected in anadhesive manner or some other manner.

The inner plate members and/or the outer plate members that form the twochain strands can be provided with angle brackets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing and is describedsubsequently. The drawing shows:

FIG. 1 a plan view upon a portion of a plate link chain,

FIG. 2 a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

The plate link chain illustrated in FIG. 1 is comprised of two chainstrands 10 that are disposed parallel to one another, whereby each chainstrand 10 is formed of a sequence of inner plate members 11 and outerplate members 12. The oppositely disposed inner plate members 11 andouter plate members 12 of the two chain strands 10 are respectivelyinterconnected by sleeves 13 that connect the inner plate members 11,and link pins 14 that are inserted into the sleeves 13 throughassociated openings of the outer plate members 12.

As already apparent from FIG. 1, the inner plate members 11 and outerplate members 12 of the two chain strands 10 are each uniformlycomprised of two parallel individual plates that are disposed on thesleeves 13 or the link pins 14, whereby in each case an inner individualplate 15 and an outer individual plate 16 are provided; the outerindividual plates 16 are monolithically formed with an angle bracket 17for the mounting of further components of the conveying means, forexample for the mounting of buckets when the plate link chain is usedfor a bucket conveyor.

The composition of the inner plate members 11 and outer plate members 12can be seen in detail in FIG. 2. To fix the position of the inner platemembers 11, the outer ends of the sleeve 13 are respectively providedwith a recess 18 that has a smaller diameter and that forms a shoulder19. Two individual plates, and in particular an inner individual plate15 and an individual plate 16 that is monolithically formed with anangle bracket 17, are placed onto the recess 18 in such a way that theinner plate member 11, which is formed from the individual plates 15,16, rests against the shoulder 19 of the sleeve 13. In a correspondingmanner, the outer plate member 12, which is disposed on the link pinthat extends through the sleeve 13, is also respectively comprised oftwo individual plates that are placed upon the link pin 14, and inparticular again of an inner plate 15 and an individual plate 16 that ismonolithically formed with an angle bracket 17.

The invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment having anidentical composition of inner plate members and outer plate members;rather, a different number of individual plates 15 or 16 for forming theinner plate member 11 or the outer plate member 12 is respectively alsoconceivable.

The features disclosed in the preceding description, the patent claims,the abstract and the drawing can be important individually as well as inany desired combination with one another for realizing the variousembodiments of the invention.

The specification incorporates by reference the disclosure of Germanpriority document 203 02 130.4 filed Feb. 11, 2003 and PCT/EP2003/014412filed Dec. 17, 2003.

The present invention is, of course, in no way restricted to thespecific disclosure of the specification and drawings, but alsoencompasses any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A plate link chain in the form of a conveyor chain, comprising: atleast two chain strands that are disposed parallel to one another andare composed of a sequence of inner plate members and outer platemembers, wherein the inner plate members are provided with openings forreceiving at least one sleeve for connecting the inner plate members ofoppositely disposed ones of said chain strands, wherein the outer platemembers are provided with openings that are aligned with the openings ofthe inner plate members in order to receive a link pin that extendsthrough the sleeve and is fixed on the outer plate members, wherein theinner plate members of the plate link chain are comprised of at leasttwo individual plates and wherein one of the individual plates of atleast the inner plate members of one of the chain strands is providedwith angle brackets for a mounting of further chain components.
 2. Aplate link chain according to claim 1, wherein the angle brackets aremonolithically formed with the individual plates that carry them.
 3. Aplate link chain according to claim 1, wherein the inner plate membersand the outer plate members that form the one of the chain strandsrespectively have an overall thickness formed by a different number ofthe individual plates.
 4. A plate link chain according to claim 1,wherein the individual plates that comprise the inner plate members havea different material thickness.
 5. A plate link chain according to claim1, wherein the individual plates are interconnected to form an innerplate member.
 6. A plate link chain according to claim 1, wherein theinner plate members that form the at least two chain strands areprovided with angle brackets.
 7. A plate link chain according to claim1, wherein the outer plate members are comprised of a single individualplate that is provided with angle brackets.
 8. A plate link chainaccording to claim 1, wherein the outer plate members are comprised ofat least two individual plates and wherein one of the individual platesis provided with an angle bracket.